1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to speech or voice translation systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Spoken language is typically the most natural, most efficient, and most expressive means of communicating information, intentions, and wishes. Speakers of different languages, however, face a formidable problem in that communication is thwarted unless the language barrier is removed. As the global economy brings together persons of various nationalities, a forum is needed that provides efficient and accurate communication, which effectively eliminates the language barrier.
Translation systems have emerged to address this need. Presently available translation systems are capable of receiving a speech signal in a first language. Typically, the speech signal is provided to a speech recognition system to determine a textual transcript from the speech signal. The textual transcript then can be processed or translated into a different language, for example through the use of a translation system such as one using natural language processing. The resulting translated text then can be provided to another person or device as text or played through a text-to-speech system.